The Charge

Opening Statement

Back in the early '80s, He-Man was the star of the most homo-erotic,
steroided-out fantasy ever to hit afternoon television. Let's face it: Prince
Adam had a "fabulous secret" in which he went out at night wearing
nothing but a harness that matched his furry g-string. He fought alongside a
leather man called Man-At-Arms, and they battled a walking skeleton (subliminal
"boner"?). Eternia seemed to give San Francisco a run for its money
with a queer community that included a couple of strong lesbian women such as
Teela and She-Ra. There was never any girl meets boy action, and there were
always plenty of times to hold up swords in a phallic way and shout "I have
the power!" while streams of white energy poured out. I always wondered why
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe didn't end up having a float in my
local gay pride parade.

When it came time to resurrect He-Man for a new round of adventures twenty
years later, Mattel and the producers did the right thing. They wrote the
stories more intricately, the action became more intense, and the animation
looks light-years better borrowing heavily from an anime influence. Oh yeah:
they also kept the gay angle running along underneath everything nicely. This
new reimagining of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe carries on all
the traditions you'd want to see in a new incarnation. The only thing missing is
a rainbow flag flying over Castle Greyskull, but I wouldn't be shocked.

Facts of the Case

In this updated version of He-Man we are provided an origin story in the
first three episodes. It seems that Skeletor is actually Prince Adam's uncle,
and the hero has to become He-Man to hide that fact. There's a bigger difference
between the two identities this time around, with Adam being a brash sixteen
year-old, and He-Man being a much larger seemingly older imposing figure. We get
back stories to tell how Man-At-Arms and Teela factor in to the battle, and
Skeletor is, well…fleshed out quite a bit. The bad guys are all given more
motives, and the good guys possess more pathos. Adam carries the weight of the
world on his back, and that's tough for a teenager. But never fear: Eternia
still has its fair share of comic relief. Yep, Orko is back.

The Evidence

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was a reimagining that was done
right. The 2002-2003 run of episodes were were tied to a new line of action
figures released by Mattel to celebrate the milestone anniversary of their
plastic figures. Toy sales projections aside, it was a nice project that gave
depth to a series that had been simple and safe two decades prior. Luckily
He-Man was going to run on the Cartoon Network in the United States which meant
it could cater to a slightly older audience. In fact, the cable channel even
removed the "morals" delivered at the end of each episode when they
originally aired for two seasons.

All of these episodes have been on DVD before, lovingly presented by a
distributor who closed its doors. Most collectors feared as BCI Eclipse closed
down as a DVD distributing company that many of its properties would disappear
from store shelves including this new version of He-Man and the Masters of
the Universe. Thankfully Mill Creek Entertainment has snagged the rights to
this one, and they have collected all the He-Man 2002-2003 episodes into one set
here. Eternia lives on, and Prince Adam's legacy is intact.

The four discs mirror exactly what we saw released under the BCI logo
including most of the extras. The pictures are clear and well delivered, and the
sound is just fine to create the right excitement. "End of Episodes
Morals" are intact and featured at the end of each episode. Interviews with
Toyline Artists from Mattel and The Four Horsemen are still found on the final
disc which features the men behind the plastic. 12 audio commentaries with the
series developers and technical staff are scattered throughout the shows, and
they are interesting narration of what it is like to work on an animated show.
There are DVD-ROM scripts for episodes 1-39 and also one for the never-seen
final show. There is also a PDF Comic Book for unproduced episode #40. Missing
are the bonus discs that originally came with the sets including animatics and
some other goodies.

Closing Statement

This is a strong collection, and it makes sense to have the entire run on
four DVDs. Collectors probably already own the multidisc original releases from
BCI Eclipse. There's nothing new here to make those guys and gals purchase this
again with fewer extras and no upgrades in visuals or sound). But if you missed
the series the first time around it's nice to get all thirty-nine episodes in
one shot.

He-Man is pure adolescent fantasy where the power of good always prevails,
girls are kind of icky, and you always have guys to watch your back in times of
need. Twenty years on, the nordic gym rat looks buffer and more righteous than
ever. Eternia is a world where boys cheer their heroes, jeer the bad guys, and
think a guy hulking around in a harness and g-string is cool. He-Man is the
ultimate hottie straight out of West Hollywood or the Village of NYC. A guy
who's all muscle and carries a big sword is always in demand.

The Verdict

Not guilty of losing the power! He-Man stays just as we recall with a nice
tweak here and there two decades later.

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